Ethernet has evolved to meet the growing demands of packet-switched networks. It has become the unifying technology enabling communications via the Internet and other networks using the Internet Protocol (IP). Due to its proven low cost, known reliability, and simplicity, the majority of today's Internet traffic starts or ends on an Ethernet connection. This popularity has resulted in a complex ecosystem among carrier networks, enterprise networks, and consumers, creating a symbiotic relationship among its various parts.
Communication across a single network communication lane of an Ethernet networking interface is typically limited at ten gigabits-per-second (Gb/s) in accordance with the IEEE 802.3 Ethernet standard. As bandwidth needs have increased, an amendment to the IEEE 802.3 standard, known as the IEEE 802.3ba amendment, has been ratified which increased bandwidth to forty and one-hundred Gb/s. In the former, four network communication lanes at ten Gb/s each are employed to provide a total of forty Gb/s, whereas in the latter, ten network communication lanes also at ten Gb/s each are used to provide a total of one-hundred Gb/s.